888 to Offer Real-Money Gambling on Facebook in 2013

Posted at 10:00 2012-12-15 by PokerNetwork Staff

Online gaming company 888 Holdings PLC, owner of 888poker, has teamed up with social media giant Facebook to offer real-money games in the U.K.

The agreement, which was announced on Wednesday, will see 888 offer its real-money games through the Facebook platform in the U.K. starting in 2013. 888's Bingo Island will be the first product to launch a real-money offering, and casino, slots and poker are expected to follow later in the year.

“888 has long recognized the potential for social gaming," said 888 COO Itai Frieberger. "Our Facebook freemium (play for fun) offerings have found a significant audience, and we are very excited by the opportunity that real-money gaming on Facebook provides. We are working closely with Facebook on this launch, ensuring we introduce the best of both worlds of real-money and social gaming.”

Julien Codorniou, Head of Games Partnerships for Facebook in Europe, added: “Facebook is a great platform for playing games with your friends and we are really pleased to be working with 888, who have a strong reputation on both the quality and safety of their games."

888 is the second company to join forces with Facebook for real-money gambling in the U.K. In August, Facebook launched a bingo product called Bingo Friendzy which was the company's first app that allowed gambling with real money instead of Facebook Credits. Gamesys, which powered the software, later added a real-money slots product to Facebook's real-money platform.

Zynga, Facebook’s largest gaming partner for several years, is also planning to enter the real-money online gambling space in the U.K. by early next year. The two companies recently restructured their partnership to ensure that Zynga's real-money offering through bwin.party will be made available on Facebook when the new platform launches.

PokerNews reached out to Facebook on Wednesday, but a spokesperson declined to provide further details.

We'll will have more on this story as it develops. Get all the latest PokerNetwork updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook now!

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